


How 5 Avengers Fell In Love With 1 Tony Stark

by Exiti_Anima



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Insecure Tony, Kidnapped Tony Stark, Mention of Waterboarding, Multi, POV Bruce Banner, POV Clint Barton, POV Natasha Romanov, POV Steve Rogers, POV Thor (Marvel), The Avengers Love Each Other, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, he gets saved though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 13:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17940518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exiti_Anima/pseuds/Exiti_Anima
Summary: The story of how Tony Stark managed to get all 5 Avengers to fall in love with him.OrHow Tony does genuine acts of kindness and the Avengers fall in love with him from it, leaving Tony confused because dammit he tried so hard to flirt with them and all it took was him being a kind person???





	How 5 Avengers Fell In Love With 1 Tony Stark

 

 

It was morning, everything was peaceful, and Tony relaxed into his bed some more to get more sleep.

 

At least until the morning light shone in his face.

 

Groaning, Tony rolled over to escape the sun only to promptly fall off the bed.

 

“Wow this day is going great.” Tony muttered sarcastically as he accepted his fate that he had to get up. It didn’t mean he had to act prepared for it, and he really didn’t feel like putting his contacts in or his hair gel.

 

Which left him with his glasses and his wavy hair that curled at the tips.

 

He grabbed his glasses and threw on a sweater, not bothering with a shirt, before making his way to the kitchen where he could grab some coffee.

 

“Why are you all up at this ungodly hour?” Tony grumbled as he stood at the doorway of the kitchen, looking at his team.

 

“Tony it’s 11:00-“ Steve began to say while turning around and stopped suddenly as he dropped the plate he was just holding, prompting the others to look at Tony.

 

Clint fell off the kitchen refrigerator, leaning too far as he soaked up Tony’s appearance.

 

There was a quiet clap of thunder from Thor.

 

Natasha let out a small curse in Russian.

 

Bruce choked on his tea and felt his eyes flash green as the Hulk grumbled appreciatively.

 

Everyone felt their heart strings being pulled when Tony glanced at their reactions and laughed softly, making his way to the coffee machine.

 

“I know I look good either way but thanks guys.” Tony winked at them all as he waited for the coffee to fill up his cup.

 

“Uh, we’ve never seen you like this.”

 

“Yeah, I didn’t feel like getting ready and going through all that trouble.”

 

“You should wear this look more often.”

 

“Oh, well thanks for the compliment but I know you guys prefer my handsome look.” Tony smiled broadly, but a small blush littered his cheeks, and Natasha rolled her eyes.

 

“You’re красивый either way Энтони.” Natasha said, her flustered state allowing more Russian words through, and she strides towards Tony confidently who set down his coffee cup to face her full on, expecting a confrontation.

 

She kissed him.

 

Before he could get over the shock, Natasha released him and Clint spun him around to repeat the same actions she did. Thor’s booming laughter was the only warning Tony got before Clint let go of him with a twinkle in his eyes and Thor swept him up before kissing him. Steve’s scolded the others lightly on bombarding Tony like that- _they talked about this?-_ before taking his turn with Tony, and then turned him around to meet Bruce’s quiet chuckle and a kiss softly, fleetingly, pressed on his lips and Tony finally regained his bearings after Bruce pulled away.

 

“What was that?!” Tony quickly moved out of the semi circle the Avengers had formed around him and grabbed his coffee to chug the rest of it before putting it down on the coffee machine, absentmindedly telling Jarvis to refill it.

 

He’d need it to process what just happened.

 

“That Friend Anthony I believe is what humans do to court and express interest!” Thor boomed, and Tony rubbed his forehead.

 

“Right, and you all wanted to-to  _court_ me?”

 

“Seems like it considering we all just kissed you.” Natasha said and Tony shot her a glare for her smart comment.

 

“Alright, but what I don’t understand is why-“

 

“If you don’t like one of us, or any of us it’s okay to say no Tony-“ Steve said, his mind already perceiving it as a rejection, and Tony rolled his eyes, holding up a hand.

 

“I wasn’t done. I was going to say I don’t understand why you guys just didn’t tell me sooner.”

 

“Wait what?”

 

“Yeah, y’know instead of bombarding me? Not that I didn’t enjoy it but it was a major surprise.”

 

“So, you like us? All of us?” Steve didn’t think it’d be this easy, he thought that Tony would freak out  _(and he did but not how Steve expected it)_  and they’d have to sit down and have a long talk or Tony would just walk out and not speak to them ever again unless it was for missions.

 

“Well, yeah, I’m sure if I didn’t I’d be running out of here and put the lab on lockdown for like a month.” Tony says easily as he sips his newly made coffee.

 

“That’s it? Your completely okay with dating all of us?”

 

“Well I mean we’ll all have to sit down and have a chat about boundaries and things like that but overall, yes I’m completely okay with it if you guys are. I mean, I’m not going to miraculously be a better person and never want to go into the lab and never put it on lockdown. Sometimes I’m going to get moody or distracted, and I’ll still have tendencies to be a lone wolf in battle or go out to SI meeting without informing any of you so honestly I don’t think you completely know what you’re getting into and if you regret it later then-“ Clint took the lead this time and kissed Tony hard.

 

“Dude we know you’re not going to change just because of the relationship and we’re fine with it. We never expected you to, so wanna go have that chat?” Tony looked at all of them and nodded, and they all made their way to the living room.

 

Tony didn’t know what to expect out of this relationship, and knowing all of their colorful background it wasn’t going to be easy, but somehow he knew they would be alright.

 

———————————————————

 

How the Avengers fell in love with one Anthony Stark.

 

  1. Thor Odinson



 

 

 

The battle was going splendidly, just like Friend Steven and Friend Anthony said it would. Thor didn’t really understand what they were fighting, Anthony had tried to explain it but in the end he must’ve saw Thor’s confused expression but he shortened it “bad robots”.

 

Thor could work with that.

 

Taking down a god was hard, especially if the god was Thor. He was almost always moving about, smashing enemies with Mjölnir and whatnot, but the only time he stops for even a minute is when he slams the hammer to the ground. In the midst of battling an actual god, most humans didn’t notice this time frame, but he wasn’t fighting human villains.

 

One of the robots took a shot at him, aiming for the back of his knee, and he stumbled before falling to his knees with a grunt. Thor saw the enemies start to swarm him and prepared himself to get up again when suddenly a bright blue beam of light circled around him, blowing up the enemies near him.

 

“Man of Iron, thank you for your assistance but I hasn’t needed it!” Thor called out to the armor flying above him, and watched as it settled besides him.

 

“I know big guy but take a minute to let the adrenaline take the sting away, and then you can get back up.” Thor watched the armor shoot at another robot and did has his comrade said. After he stood up, Anthony flew away knowing he could take care of himself.

 

Thor pondered that moment for the rest of the battle, Anthony had obviously known he could handle himself it was obvious in the way he flew away without reassurance that Thor could fight again.

 

So why did he step in regardless?

 

Later on after the battle was over Anthony threw him a poptart packet before stating he was going down to his lab, and Thor knew he wouldn’t see him for the rest of he day. While eating the poptarts, it suddenly struck Thor as to why Anthony had done it.

 

He was trying to court Thor.

 

In Asgard when a commoner wanted to court a warrior, they would defend the warrior when they didn’t need defending as to make it obvious they wanted to court them. If they agreed to the courting, the warrior would gift the commoner with something the commoner enjoys, to show that the warrior has given them enough attention and respect to know what they like.

 

Anthony must see Thor has both a warrior and a commoner, as he protected Thor in battle and he gave Thor his favorite Midgardian food. It made sense, as Thor resided in Anthony’s household like a commoner would a warrior.

 

Letting out a boisterous laugh, Thor decided to return the favor.

 

The next battle they had, Thor saved a meager enemy and let them go after Anthony only to smash it once it caught Anthony’s attention.

 

“Thanks Point Break, but I’m pretty sure I could’ve handle that.” Anthony’s voice filtered through his armor, and Thor smiled broadly as he looked at the armor.

 

“I know.”

 

Later on Thor handed Anthony a cube.

 

“What’s this?” Anthony questioned as he looked it over, turning it in his hands to find a switch. He flicked the switch and watched it disappear into the cube as it lit up, and another puzzle came out.

 

“That is one of the hardest puzzles to crack on Asgard, only the smartest sorcerers know how to do it all! You get bored often, and you like new puzzles and problems, so I decided to bestow it upon you! When you complete the puzzle presented on the cube it will disappear and a new problem will appear!” Anthony was visibly startled at his response, but looked up and smiled at Thor. It wasn’t one of the smiles that he gave the vultures, as Anthony called them, but it was a softer one that held the brightness of the star in his chest.

 

“Thanks Thor.”

 

When Thor woke in the middle of the night to grab a snack he noticed Anthony lying on the couch in front of the talking box called a television, the cube lying on his chest as he sleeps soundly. Looking at the diagram Thor had the sorcerers sketch out and back at the cube, he could see that Anthony was already halfway done with the cube.

 

Thor smiled, a brilliant mind indeed.

 

———————————————————

 

        2. Clint Barton

 

Clint was deaf, not all the way but enough to wear he needed hearing aids.

 

The only people that knew was Phil, Natasha and Steve, Phil and Natasha knew because he told them and Steve had to know because he was the leader of their team and  _needed_  to know.

 

But when a villain took out his hearing aids, the rest found out. Bruce and Thor questioned him a little, Thor more than Bruce, but ultimately accepted it easily.

 

Tony was a different story.

 

When he found out, the mechanic kept looking at Clint with an expression the archer couldn’t identify but when asked Tony would just shake his head and look away.

 

When they escaped and Tony was back in the suit on the jet he started to talk to Jarvis in fast Italian, but Clint was able to pick up his name a few times and finally asked.

 

“Tony what are you talking about?”The man in question flipped up his faceplate and switched back to English.

 

“Hm? What do you mean?”

 

“You keep saying my name, why?” Clint didn’t want to believe Tony was one of  _those_ people, so he kept it friendly.

 

“Oh, I’m talking about your new arrows.” Tony shrugged and his hand reached out to his right ear before catching himself and putting his hand back to his side.

 

But that was all Clint needed to see to know he was lying.

 

_‘What’s one secret about you that isn’t well known?’ Tony asked on a night where Clint and him were the only ones awake, at a time where secrets that weren’t meant to be shared came out into the light._

_‘What’s with the sudden interest?’ Clint snorted as he downed his coffee, both men deciding if they couldn’t be asleep then they should be awake._

_‘Dunno, have to make a conversation somehow right? Why not a soul searching one?” Tony leaned backwards in a casual pose as he watched Clint. He hadn’t touched his coffee, but Clint knew he was fully awake and alert._

_Still, he decided to tell him._

_“I hate the color blue, not the arc reactor blue or Steve’s blue, but Loki’s blue. The tesseract blue.” Tony hummed, pushing off the counter behind him, and walked to the table island Clint was sitting at, taking Clint’s cup and turning around to refill it._

_‘What about you? And don’t tell me something that the press knows, because I know that the majority of your “secrets” you tell them are false anyway.’ Tony snorts at his claim and while waiting for the cup to refill he turns around to face Clint._

_‘Yeah? Like what?’_

_‘You tell them you’re a playboy, but I know you’re not.’ Tony stills and Clint continues, ‘I know after Afghanistan you used to secretly pay woman to pretend to sleep with you to keep up the act that you were fine and you didn’t change, but stopped shortly after the Avengers were put together.’_

_‘Huh, you’re good. Okay, I’ll tell you something the press doesn’t know.’ Tony grabbed Clint’s coffee and gave it to him before downing his own and placing it on the table._

_“When I was younger, Jarvis used to make up lies as to why my parents were never present. Whenever he lied, he would touch his right ear, and I do the same now because of it.” Clint frowned, thinking back to the times he watched Tony lie._

_“I’ve seen you lie to politicians all the time, but you never touch your ear?”_

_“I’m a professional liar, if I did it all the time that’d be an obvious telling, but the only time I do that are with people I’m close to and comfortable with.” Tony admits and Clint thinks back to when Steve asked about Howard and how he was as a father. The engineer had told him he was distant but loved his mother dearly, and when Steve asked about Howard and Tony’s relationship he had told him the same thing-distant but he loved Tony._

_That was when he touched his ear._

_‘Anyway, I’d rather this not get out, let’s keep this between ourselves yeah?” Clint nodded his acceptance and never spoke about it again, not even to Natasha and Tony did the same._

Later, when Clint was in the elevator he asked Jarvis to bring him up to his room in the tower.

 

“Of course Mr. Barton.” It was silent, until the doors open and Clint stepped out.

 

“Uh, Jarvis? This isn’t my room.” It was the training room, and Clint wondered if there was a malfunction but immediately discarded the thought. Tony would never let a malfunction happen to Jarvis, so this had to be on purpose.

 

Whether it was on purpose from Jarvis or his creator Clint didn’t know.

 

“Maybe you’d like to train?” Jarvis evaded the question, a trait Clint knew he got from Tony, and it suddenly hit him.

 

Tony wanted him to train more because he didn’t trust Clint to have his back anymore.

 

“Jarvis, Tony knows I’m not a liability right?” Clint asked in a carefully controlled voice, and Jarvis hesitated before answering.

 

“Sir has not expressed that you were a liability, no.” Either Jarvis was lying or was telling the truth, but Clint was too frustrated to try and figure out which one.

 

“Alright! I’m sick of this! If Tony wants to treat me differently fine, I’ll figure out another way to get to my room! I thought he was different from the rest but I guess not!” Clint held strong to the anger, he didn’t want to think about what was underneath  _ ~~(the sorrow that laid there because he was starting to fall for To-)~~_ and it was quiet for a moment before Jarvis opened the elevators doors.

 

“That won’t be necessary Mr. Barton, the elevator is properly functioning.” Clint bit his tongue to stop the onslaught of words wanting to escape and stepped inside.

 

When he stepped into his room he saw hidden lights up and before he could check them out, they flickered on and stayed on. Following his instinct, Clint turned around when the lights didn’t turn off and saw Tony leaning on his doorway.

 

‘ _Hey Clint.’_ It was shaky, and Clint could see the uncertainty in his hands, but Tony signed it to him and smiled when he completed it successfully.

 

“Tony?” Clint looked back at the lights and then to the man in question, who pushed himself off the doorway to take a step towards the archer.

 

“Since you’re basically deaf you might not always be able to hear Jarvis or when someone enters your room, so I decided to make those little lights to inform you if Jarvis is trying to communicate with you or if someone is about to enter your room.” Tony explained, talking fast because he’s nervous of what Clint’s reaction is going to be, and watched the archer carefully.

 

“What about the sign language?”

 

“Oh! That. Well I’ve learned sign language before and I was a little rusty which is why my sign language was a little shaky.” Tony laughs it off and Clint smiled fondly, walking over and giving the engineer a one armed hug.

 

“Thanks dude.”

 

“No problem.”

 

Later, when Tony was well gone and head deep in his lab, Clint asked Jarvis.

 

“Hey, Jarvis? Did Tony really know sign language?” The AI hesitated, before ultimately deciding to let Clint in on a secret.

 

“Sir previously knew sign language thanks to my predecessor, but hasn’t practiced it in years.”

 

“So how’d he...?” Clint trailed off when a video was pulled up in front of him.

 

“Sir technically hasn’t put this video down as classified, so I’m allowed to show this to you.” Clint nodded his understanding, it wasn’t that Tony wanted him to watch it but it was the fact he hasn’t had to time to delete it or put it under lock.

 

“Alright Jarvis, lets start the recording. I do have your permission to film this right Doctor?” Tony asks as Jarvis’s cameras start recording and Clint watches the engineer turn to a big hologram in front of him that has an elderly woman on the other side.

 

“Yes, you do. If I may ask, why do you want to learn sign language again?” The woman asks and Tony smiles easily.

 

“Ah, well my butler’s wife, Anna, she went deaf as she grew older so I learned sign language for her. I was looking through my storage and found a picture of her, and it prompted me to want to learn again.” Tony explains, but Clint knew it was a lie even if Tony didn’t reach for his ear.

 

He’s still a professional liar, and he must not know the Doctor very well.

 

“That makes sense, nostalgia will do that. Were you close to her?”

 

“More than you can imagine, she was like a mother to me. I loved her so much, when she got sick I dropped everything I had going on just to be by her side.” Tony answered wistfully, with a hint of sorrow, before shaking himself out of it and smiled broadly. “But we’re not here to talk about my past, let’s get this show on a roll!”

 

Jarvis sped up the video for Clint’s sake and stopped it somewhere in the middle of the footage. Throughout it, Clint had been tracking Tony’s sped up movements and caught something that the teacher did too.

 

“I looked at videos previously of you so I knew what I was working with, and you need to gain control of your movements.”

 

“What?” Tony was thrown off by the statement, and suddenly the woman yielded his undivided attention. It was obvious that he wanted to learn this badly if he didn’t brush off the comment or get distracted by something else.

 

“You tend to gesture eccentrically with your hands when you’re speaking, but in sign language we need to be able to see your hands in order to know what you’re saying. As you get more used to it, you’ll be able to move your hands fluidly and without hindrance but for now you need to work on keeping your hands with you.”

 

“Okay, okay I can do that.” They practice for the next few minutes until Tony dropped his hands and huffed in annoyance, he kept slipping up and doing something wrong and he obviously was getting frustrated.

 

“Mr. Stark, would you like to continue this another day? It’s not uncommon for someone not to be able to learn sign language right away. Even geniuses.” Tony looked over at a picture of all the Avengers, out of shot from the video call, and smiled, turning back to the teacher with a renewed spark in his eyes.

 

“No I got this, after all, not all geniuses are Iron man are they?” The teacher obviously must’ve saw the determined look in his eyes and smiled.

 

“No, they certainly aren’t.” The footage cut off there and Clint smiled at Tony’s kindness. To learn sign language just for Clint and go out of his way to make sure Clint was comfortable in his own room...

 

Well, Clint couldn’t deny it now after all that-he loved Tony.

 

And, surprisingly, he was completely okay with it.

 

———————————————————

 

   3. Bruce Banner

 

Bruce was always on the run, it was a thing he unfortunately became accustomed with. He just ran and ran and ran, until he was in a foreign country that was calm and good for Bruce  _(_ _ ~~aside from the aching loneliness that followed him when he ran)~~_ until he was forced to run away.

 

He wondered how many more times he could run until there wasn’t any place he hadn’t been.

 

But when he met Tony, he didn’t have to run.

 

Another thing he got accustomed with was seeing the fear in people’s eyes once they knew who-or what-he was ( _ ~~a monster)~~_ so when he met Tony and didn’t see the fear in his eyes he assumed the engineer didn’t know he was the Hulk.

 

A part of him that day didn’t want him to know, but then again he doesn’t want anyone to know.

 

So color him surprised when Tony stated he knew  _(and liked, which was new)_ that Bruce could turn into the Hulk, that Bruce was the Hulk, and there wasn’t any fear lurking in his eyes.

 

None.

 

On top of that the other genius went out of his way to show Bruce he was human just like the rest of them, shocking him and teasing him, despite everything that told him not to.

 

Which is why he was livid when a live feed of the engineer was brought up, courtesy of Jarvis. All of the Avengers were present, and all of them were concerned.

 

But it involved Bruce more than anyone because of who kidnapped Tony.

 

“Whatever you kidnapped me for, it better not have anything to do with Bruce.” Tony said defiantly, and General Ross smirked.

 

“I think you’ll see it my way soon enough.”

 

“In your dream.” Tony spat a mixture of blood and saliva in Ross’s face, but the General didn’t react.

 

“You have to know by now how dangerous that abomination is, he’s a threat and needs to be taken out!”

 

“Oh my god, not this again.” Tony groaned and pulled at his chains futility. He was chained to a chair in the middle of a room, and he could feel his panic spike at the similarities he was drawing from Afghanistan. “First off I’d like to inform you I work with this man, on and off the battle field, and the only thing I find dangerous about him is how he always seems to find my blueberries I hide.” The Avengers chuckled at that, including Bruce, but the scientist was worried for his lab partner.

 

“Second off, we’re all dangerous. If you wanted to get rid of Bruce for being dangerous, you’d have to get rid of all of us with that mindset.” The Avengers muttered their agreement, but Bruce frowned. He was different, he couldn’t control himself the way the others could, and the General was quick to voice the exact same thoughts.

 

“That monster is uncontrollable, the rest of your group has common sense.”

 

“Hulk is not uncontrollable, or mindless, if he was then he wouldn’t of had saved me when I fell. He would’ve kept smashing, but he didn’t and he’s the reason I’m alive right now.” Tony countered, and Hulk rumbled in agreement in Bruce’s mind.

 

“You’re comparing a monster to a group of highly trained soldiers.”

 

“We are  _not_ soldiers.” Here, Tony reacted with a flare of anger and tugged at his chains harshly. Ross quickly caught on to it, and used this chink in his armor.

 

“That’s quite a temper you have there Stark.”

 

“We all have one, yours is especially horrible.”

 

“Yes but you’ve been through the life of a soldier, haven’t you?” Without letting Tony respond, Ross continued, “Captured in Afghanistan for three months and came back to America with something in you that wasn’t there before. Shut down the weapon side of Stark Industries and became the public identity of Iron man. But I see it in your eyes, Stark, the look that hardened seasoned soldiers have, ones that have used their comrades as meat shields. You may be a civilian, but you certainly haven’t lived the life of one. Something in you died in that cave, and something else took its place.”

 

Tony jolted back from his speech, obviously it hit too close to home, and Bruce could feel the green veins starting to appear underneath his long sleeve. Taking several deep breaths, as he couldn’t afford to transform now, Bruce calmed his heart and pushed his sleeves to his elbows to cool off.

 

“Do you have a point in this? Or are you going to keep up the monologue until SHIELD gets here?” Tony snaps back, and Ross tilted his head.

 

“SHIELD? Why not the Avengers?”

 

“Please. As if I’d give Bruce a chance to turn himself in for me, that’s something he would definitely do, and I’m not leading him right into your hands.” Tony scoffed, and Steve looked up to ask Jarvis a question.

 

“Can we override the command he gave you to not tell us?”

 

“Unfortunately no, Captain Rogers, Sir wanted to ensure Dr. Banner’s safety at all cost.”

 

“We’ll just have to rely on SHIELD for now.” Natasha said, putting Steve on the back and looking over at Bruce to check up on him. The other genius was so focused on the video he didn’t notice.

 

“I think I can make you talk, make you tell the Avengers where you are. You know, Hydra has some interesting videos of you.”

 

“Hydra? You work for Hydra now Ross? Ha, I didn’t think you’d sink that low. Oh wait, yes I did.”

 

“I made a deal with them, to get certain information on you. You’ll see soon enough, boys!” Ross snapped his fingers and Tony quickly paled as he saw what they were bringing in.

 

“No..” Natasha stared in horror as they brought in a container filled with water.

 

“What? What’s happening?” Steve looked at Natasha and back at the video.

 

“Last chance Stark!” Ross yelled as the guns for hire set the water in front of Tony. They grabbed the engineer, set him on his knees in front of it, and put his hands behind his back, handcuffing his hands so he couldn’t do anything. Somebody sat on his legs so he couldn’t kick out and suddenly he was trapped.

 

“You’re gonna rot in hell Ross, just like those terrorists did.” Tony sneered, spitting up at Ross who wasn’t fazed, and Ross smirked, like he wanted this.

 

“I’ll see you there.” And then they dunked Tony’s head in the water, forcing it down.

 

“Tony!” Steve yelled in horror, and Bruce was stuck.

 

“They did this to him in Afghanistan, waterboarded him, they’re sick!” Clint yelped, and Ross motioned to bring his head up when Tony started to thrash.

 

“Give up yet, Stark?” Tony was shaking, old memories coming back, and Bruce almost puked.

 

“N-Never...you’re nothin’ compared to what I had to go through.” Tony said, slightly slurred, but he had fire in his eyes.

 

“Dunk him again boys.” Bruce couldn’t comprehend why Tony was doing this, why would he allow himself to be tortured for Bruce? They couldn’t kill Bruce, they could very well kill Tony though.

 

He wasn’t worth it.

 

Those words cycled through his head as he watched Tony be brought up and dunked again and again and  _again-_

“SHIELD there!” Clint whooped in relief as Phil busted down the doors and another SHIELD agent shot tranquilizers at Ross and the guns for hire.

 

The Avengers were expecting Tony to pop his head up from the water once the hold on his head went slack, but nothing happened.

 

Tony wasn’t responding.

 

“Stark? Stark!” Phil went over to Tony and grabbed him from the water and laid him down on the floor. Bruce caught sight of Tony’s chest, and could immediately tell it wasn’t rising.

 

“Stark! You’re not dying here!” Phil grimaced, and went in to do CPR.

 

“C’mon Tony, not here.” Steve muttered and Bruce could hear Hulk roar, wanting to help his Tin Man.

 

Tony lurched up after what felt like the 100th attempt of Phil trying to resurrect him, and started coughing up water.

 

“There you go Stark, you’re fine.” Phil rubbed Tony’s back and everyone let out a sigh of relief except for Bruce, who was too wounded up to do anything.

 

“Agent, glad to see you’re ‘ere.” Tony gave Phil a lopsided smile, “Don’t tell the ‘Vengers anythin’ yeah?”

 

“Stark...” Phil said disapprovingly, and Tony gave him his best glare he could.

 

“No they can’t know, especially not Bruce, tell them I was kidnapped, nothin’ more. Promise me.” Tony gripped Phil’s shirt, more aware than he had been before, and Phil could do nothing but nod reluctantly.

 

“I promise.” The Avengers watching grimaced, they knew Phil doesn’t back out on his promises. That’s why he doesn’t make them often.

 

“Thanks Agent...you’re a good man.” Tony’s grip went slack and he fell unconscious, Phil quickly ordering someone to get the jet ready to go to SHIELD infirmary.

 

Not a few minutes later, Phil called them.

 

“Avengers, we’ve located Iron Man and are bringing him to SHIELD infirmary. Meet us there quickly, got it?”

 

“Yes sir.” Steve responded and hung up the call, the rest of the Avengers silent.

 

“Jarvis? Does Tony know you tapped us into a live feed?” Bruce couldn’t help but ask, and Jarvis answered him reluctantly.

 

“No, Sir does not.” They all boarded the jet silently, Clint driving them to SHIELD with a white knuckles grip on the wheel.

 

Bruce wasn’t worth it.

 

When they reached the infirmary they all rushed to the room where Tony was staying, but was harshly ordered by the nurse that only two could go see Tony at one time. Bruce went last, alone, and harshly sucked in a breath when he saw Tony. He had a couple wires hooked up to him and an oxygen mask on and on a normal basis it wouldn’t of had looked bad, but it was because it was  _Bruce’s fault._

_He wasn’t worth it._

 

A day later, Tony was released from the med bay and it was a week later when Bruce finally exploded. They were in the lab, alone together, and Bruce had to talk about it, the tightness in his chest hadn’t disappeared since that day.

“Why’d you do it?” Bruce questioned quietly, cleaning his glasses so he wouldn’t have to look at Tony.

 

“Huh?” Tony looked up from the project he was tinkering with, pulling up his googles, and looked at Bruce, “Why’d I do what?”

 

“Why’d you get kidnapped?”

 

“Bruce,” Tony chuckled as he looked at his lab partner, “people don’t get purposely kidnapped.”

 

“But you stood kidnapped, you could’ve gotten out of there quicker!” Bruce shot him a sharp look as he put his glasses on, and Tony frowned.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“You could’ve easily traded your life for mine, easily! But you didn’t!”

 

“Who told you? Was it Agent?” Tony asked quietly and Bruce scoffed, angry for a reason he didn’t know. No, yes he did, he knew why.

 

“Jarvis showed us a live feed of it.” Bruce admitted and Tony looked like he was about to say something but Bruce quickly continued, “Why didn’t you? I can’t die Tony, and yet you put yourself in a situation where you could’ve!”

 

“Ross is nothing, I’ve had worse. I mean, I spent three months in Afghanistan with worse treatment, waterboarding was just the beginning for me, what’s a couple hours with Ross?” Tony joked, but that just made Bruce angrier.

 

“Exactly! You spent months having to go through that! Why would you do something so  _stupid!”_

 

“Bruce, I had to! I couldn’t let Ross get his hands on you, don’t you know what he would do?!” Tony tried to reason, but Bruce was so  _angry_ and he couldn’t stop yelling when Tony put himself in danger for no reason!

 

“Of course I do! But that doesn’t matter! I could’ve taken it!”

 

“And so could I! In fact I did take it, for you Bruce!” Tony exclaimed, and it was the final straw as Bruce yelled,

 

“ _I’m not worth it!”_ Tony stilled, but Bruce didn’t notice as he went on, “You should’ve saved yourself! I’m not worth it at the expanse of your  _life!”_

“Don’t say that!” Tony yelled back, “You are worth it! I’m  _sick and tired_ of people trying to sacrifice themselves for me! I don’t want it! I want them to  _live!”_

 

“What?” Bruce was momentarily shocked by Tony’s admission and it was enough for the engineer to reach for him.

 

“Bruce listen to me.” Tony clasped Bruce’s face in between his hands gently, and forced the scientist to look at him, “You are worth it, you’re worth every hour I was stuck with Ross. If I had to do it again to keep you safe, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

 

“But-“

 

“I was stuck in Afghanistan for three months with a doctor named Yinsen, and those three months changed my life. We had a plan, Yinsen and I, and at the last minute he changed it up to save my life. I remember yelling at him ‘ _Stick to the plan! Stick to the plan’_ and when I finally reached him he told me that was the plan all along, to sacrifice himself for me. He told me not to waste my life, and he died to go join his family. I was hurt and  _angry_  and I couldn’t understand  _why_  he did it. Only when I met you guys did I understand, and maybe that was his plan since the start, but all that time when I was growing to respect and admire him, so was he. He saw something in me that nobody else had, not Rhodey, not Happy, not Pepper, and he wanted me to live on to reach that potential he saw. Bruce, if you were in that cave with me I would’ve switched up the plan too.”

 

“Why?” Bruce couldn’t understand, he knew why Yinsen would do it for Tony, but why would Tony do it for-

 

“Because  _you’re worth it_.” Tony hugged him tightly and Bruce could feel his tears stream down his face as he hugged his lab partner back.

 

Maybe Bruce was worth it.

 

And as he felt warmth spread in his body, he knew it was because of Tony Stark.

 

——————————————————

 

      4. Steven Rogers

 

“I’ll have to postpone that dance for another time, don’t wait up for me. Live your life to the fullest.”

 

The heart monitor went dead.

 

Steve got dressed in a daze, Natasha helping him into a suit and tying his tie. All of the Avengers were there to hug him or pat his back and offer their condolences. Each one of them offered to go with him and he shook his head each time, feeling sluggish and hazy for the first time since he woke up from the ice.

 

Everyone but Tony.

 

The other Avenger wasn’t there at all, and upon questioning Steve figured out nobody knew where their wayward comrade was.

 

If Steve thought about it, Tony would’ve been the only Avenger he would’ve said yes to if he ask to go with him.

 

But Tony wasn’t there so there was no point thinking about it.

 

Steve figured if he was more aware he would’ve felt a flare of anger at the fact that Tony was probably locked up in the workshop while he was out here mourning all over again. That everyone took time out of their day for him except for Tony-

 

But he didn’t, all he felt was overwhelming sadness crashing within him again and again like the waves of the ocean.

 

Her funeral was private, only her closest family and comrades would be there, a public one would be held to honor her of course, but this casket would be the one that held the body.

 

“Friends and family of Peggy Carter please rise...” Steve did as he was told and the memorial past in a blur, people were crying and all sharing stories of their Peggy. Steve got to go up too and told his own stories of the Peggy he knew back from the war, and he felt like the people watching him saw him as Steven Rogers and not Captain America.

 

He almost buckled right then and there.

 

_~~(He had to let go of the podium to stop it from cracking within his grip)~~ _

 

He thought he’d be the last one to go up to that podium, and then people would start filing out. He might’ve stood a moment  _ ~~(a lifetime)~~_ to talk to his girl, but color him surprised when he saw someone else stand behind the podium.

 

“Aunt Peggy was my mentor, my guardian, my family, my everything. She lived her life to the fullest and I’m sure she doesn’t regret a thing, good and bad.” To see Tony Stark standing behind the podium knocked Steve out of his stupor, and he couldn’t help but cling to every word the missing Avenger had to say.

 

He had listened to all the stories that were told, soaking up everything they knew about Peggy Carter, and now Tony had the last stories to share.

 

The last pieces of the puzzle known as Peggy Carter’s life.

 

Later, Tony spoke again of Peggy but this speech was colder and more professional. Instead of sharing stories like he did at the private funeral, he showered Peggy’s name with praise of her accomplishments. He offered his condolences to close family members of Peggy Carter, like he wasn’t one of those members himself, and then got off the podium. He stood for the rest of the public funeral, but once the time cane where it wasn’t disrespectful to leave he was the first out the door.

 

Steve was still sitting in the same spot where Tony left him, staring at the grave with her name etched on it.

 

“Steve, buddy, you’re going to get sick if you keep sitting here. Eventually we’re not going to be able to wash the mud off your pants y’know.” Tony tried to lighten up the mood, but ultimately failed when Steve didn’t have a reaction.

 

“Steve-“

 

“Leave me.” Steve muttered, not looking at Tony, because his voice sparked a hidden anger that he didn’t know was there. He didn’t know why he was getting angry, and he knew he would find out if he opened his mouth.

 

He didn’t want to find out.

 

“I can’t leave you, Natasha would kill me.” Steve was closest to Nat right? Maybe that would get him up, at least Tony hoped so.

 

Those words got Steve up, but not in the way Tony thought it would.

 

“Oh so you’re doing this because Nat told you to?” Steve figured out why he was angry, it was to cover up the hurt of that fact that Tony didn’t care enough.

 

“I’m not following.”

 

“You staying here and watching over me. It’s because Natasha told you too, right?” Steve demanded and Tony didn’t know what to say. Would it be better if he said yes?

 

It didn’t matter, because Steve got impatient.

 

“Why can’t you be concerned yourself? The others have to guide you into helping, they knew I would only talk to you so they sent you along to talk to me after the funerals! You went to Peggy’s private funeral because you knew and cared for her but if the others hadn’t made you realize, you’d be at the tower right now and I’d still be  _here_  alone just like the last time! I went through the ice and when I came out I figured out that I was  _alone_ in this world!”Steve sucked in a breath and was about to continue, was about to accuse Tony of something worse, when a body collided into his.

 

Steve stumbled back and almost managed to keep his balance but then a foot swept out and under his feet, placing him on the ground in a sitting position. Before he could react, arms were wrapped around him and they latched on tight.

 

Steve looked down and saw brown, and looked up and saw blue and white. The colors blurred and he wondered why it was raining.

 

“Shhh, you’ll be fine, let it out all out. You’ve been strong for this long, it’s okay to get it out sometimes.” Oh, maybe it was his own personal rain cloud then. The white moved across the blue slowly, and he realized he didn’t want to see time move on. Steve buried his head in the brown, it was soft, and the grip on him tightened. There was a sniffle, and Steve knew he wasn’t the only one with a rain cloud.

 

Steve didn’t know how long they sat there clinging to each other, but eventually his senses sharpened and came back to him. The brown was Tony’s hair and the white and blue were the sky and clouds.

 

Tony must’ve sensed it because he leaned back and reached his hands up slowly to grab Steve’s face, telegraphing his every move. When Steve didn’t react,  _the sky was so blue_ , Tony grasped his face and moved his head so he was staring into his eyes.

 

Whiskey brown, but with the light they lightened to hazel.

 

Steve wanted to draw it.

 

“Your name is Steven Grant Rogers, you were Aunt Peggy’s first love and you were my father’s best friend. You went into the ice for your country and came out into an unknown world, but guess what? You still tried your best to protect this world even if you didn’t know it, paired up with strangers that all had different backgrounds, and you still made us into a team. We follow you not because your Captain America, but because your  _Steve Rogers.”_ Steve blinked and let those words process, and then grabbed the shock of brown-grabbed  _Tony_ into a hug, laughing wetly.

 

“Good impromptu pep talk, didn’t know you had it in you.”

 

“Yeah, well, I’m full of surprises.”

 

Steve looked up and saw the white clouds move, and realized he didn’t mind it as much. It hurt to see Peggy go, but he knew that she wouldn’t want him wasting his second chance at life moping around. He looked down at the small genius at his chest, and smiled, sadness at the edges of his smile because it doesn’t go away that fast, but hope taking its place in his eyes.

 

He wasn’t going to waste his life, and his second chance was right here besides him.

 

And the clouds moved as time went on, but for a moment time stood still for Steve Rogers.

 

———————————————————

     5. Natasha  _ ~~(Natalie)~~_  Romanoff ( _ ~~Rushman)~~_

 Natasha wasn’t weak or emotional, not by any means, and someone wouldn’t peg her as a type to cry, no matter who she went undercover as. Maybe it was the hardness in her eyes, or the way she held herself, but whatever it was made people back off with a single glare and stop asking questions.

 

She had grown accustom to being able to get people to shut up quickly, which is why Tony Stark was a curveball she hadn’t anticipated.

 

“Stark.”

 

“Did you used to dance? If so, were you a ballerina or maybe-“

 

“Stark.”

 

“-Ana, Jarvis’s wife, always sang to me and told me I should learn to dance. Did you dance in Russia? That’d be-“

 

“Tony!” The person in question looked over at her and Natasha glared, knowing it would work.

 

“Stop asking questions.” Tony pursed his lips and looked back to the coffee machine. It was silent and Natasha gave a breath of relief-

 

“So did you dance?” Natasha groaned and looked at the resident engineer.

 

“Why do you want to know so bad?” Nobody wanted to know, not without reason or thinking they could have some type of leverage.

 

“I’m just curious, you have to have some type of interest. I know everyone else’s except for yours.” Tony shrugged and Natasha openly showed her shock, it’s not like Tony would see it anyway. Nobody just “wanted to know” Clint and Phil were the only ones that genuinely asked and got a genuine answer. Steve and Thor asked and she lied, making up some answer. Bruce knew she probably didn’t want to say it and never mentioned it, which left Tony.

 

“I like training and writing.”

 

“You’re lying.” Natasha snapped her gaze to the genius who didn’t look away from the coffee machine, but she was quickly realizing he had more perceptiveness than he was showing. The way Tony turned and drank his coffee while his eyes searched her face over the top of the mug confirmed her suspicions.

 

“Yeah, how so Stark?” Natasha leaned forward subconsciously and Tony smirked as he set down the coffee.

 

“C’mon Nat, I’m not Steve or Thor. They’re more perceptive than others think, not blind blubbering blond idiots, but they didn’t grow up in a world of lies like you and I. If you want to lie, you’re going to have to cover it up better than that.” Tony leaned on the table too, white sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he propped them on the table and rested his face on them.

 

Natasha was silent.

 

“If you really want to know, I do have a reason for asking.” She could’ve smirked then, she knew there was an ulterior motive-a hidden agenda-behind his question, but she hid it well. “Ana wanted me to get into ballet and I did. I’ve been looking for a partner for awhile and you seem like the perfect fit. You have the body for it even if you don’t know how to do it yet.”

 

“Ha ha very funny Stark.” Natasha rolled her eyes at the inappropriate joke hidden behind his words and Tony shook his head.

 

“No, I genuinely didn’t mean it like that. I really do need a ballet partner and since you’re the only female in the group and you  _do_ have the body for it, I thought I’d ask you.” Tony said earnestly, and Natasha debated it. Did she really want another person knowing that vulnerability she has? What happens if they exploit it?

 

In the face of Natasha’s silence, Tony flattered.

 

“Ah, never mind. Sorry I asked, I’ll find a partner eventually.” Tony flashed a press smile, full of white teeth and  _fake,_ and got up to leave.

 

“Dancing. Dancing is my interest.” Natasha admitted and Tony turned around, “I used to do it in Russia and after I got out of the Red Room and into SHEILD I picked it up again. How good are you?”

 

“I guess you’re about to find out.” Tony flashed her another smile, but this time it was genuine.

 

They practiced for a long time, falling into rhythm that neither of them knew they could make with each other. Natasha let herself get lost in the dance, trusting her partner to keep up and follow her moves, and when they were done they were both out of breath.

 

She went over to the bench and grabbed two water bottles, throwing one at Tony who caught it easily.

 

“I’ve never had a partner who could keep up with me.” Natasha admitted and Tony laughed, taking swig of the water before responding.

 

“Well I’m glad I met your standards, that was fun. Uh, want to do it again sometime?” Tony asked, albeit a bit shyly which he tried to hide, and Natasha smiled fondly, going over and nudging him.

 

“Yeah, I still have a couple of dances to show you. Жаль, что ты не знаешь русский язык” Natasha muttered and Tony rolled his eyes.

 

“Вы думаете, я не знаю русский язык? Конечно я знаю русский.” Tony responded and Natasha looked at him, her eyes widening.

 

“How do you know Russian?”

 

“Two reasons. One, I’m a genius. Two, my father was Howard Stark.” Tony held up two fingers for a visual and Natasha crossed her arms.

 

“That’s not an explanation.”

 

“Tsk tsk Natasha, we have to keep some secrets in this world don’t we?” Tony waved his finger back and forth smiling teasingly and Natasha rolled her eyes.

 

“Fine, do you want to go watch this Russian show I found? It had two seasons so you’ll have to catch up.” Natasha asked coolly, hiding her nervousness, and Tony shrugged.

 

“Sure, meet is the living room in 10? I have to take a shower and change.” Natasha nodded her acceptance and they went on their ways.

 

Later, when they were both changed into comfortable sweats and watching the Russian show did he tell her.

 

“Howard wanted me to know as many languages as possible to help him. When we met German representatives, I would act like I didn’t know how to speak German to get inside information that I would then relay to Howard. I was his little spy so he could figure out the best way to go about things.”

 

“How many language do you know?”

 

“More than I count on my fingers.”

 

“It’s not your fault, you were young and malleable.”

 

“I know.” Tony said, but Natasha saw him relax, the stiffness in his shoulder disappearing, and Natasha knew he needed to hear it.

 

“Let’s play a game.”

 

“A game?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll speak in a language and you’ll say something back. Then you say something and I have to say it.” Natasha explained, trying to divert his attention, and Tony nodded.

 

“Alright lets go.” They played for hours it seemed, the Russian show playing in the background, and Natasha quickly Tony wasn’t kidding. He did know so many languages, he sounded like a native speaker in any language he spoke.

 

“Non hai avuto davvero un'infanzia, vero?” Natasha asked in Italian and Tony winked at those words coming out of his childhood tongue.

 

“No, no tuve uno pero tú tampoco, ¿verdad?”

 

“Yeah, I guess we have more things in common than I thought.” Natasha admits and Tony smiles knowingly. She was about to say something about that smile, what things he’s seen to have that smile, but Tony’s phone rang.

 

Tony held up a finger as he answered it, motioning her to keep silent.

 

“Hello? I thought you were suppose to have that meeting covered.” Tony glanced at his phone to check the time and looked apologetically to Natasha. She nodded, and Tony slipped out of the room.

 

When Natasha looked back at the show, she felt a strange sense of loneliness, she didn’t want to watch it alone anymore.

 

No, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to watch it alone. If it was she could’ve grabbed Clint, he knows enough Russian to keep track of the show.

 

She wanted to watch it with  _Tony._ She wanted to see his eyes sparkle when he gets an inside joke that only native Russians know. She wanted to have the deep conversations with him, and share secrets she hasn’t shared with nobody else aside from maybe Clint. She wanted to dance with him and fall into that easy sync they have.

 

She saw Tony come back out with a Ironman briefcase and dressed in a black suit with a red tie.

 

“Must be pretty bad.” Natasha remarked and Tony looked over at her as he nodded. At the surface level it looked like a normal, fashionable, suit, but the color scheme had a hidden meaning that almost nobody caught on to. As much as Tony hated the title of the “Merchant of Death” sometimes he took on that persona, cold, ruthless, with cold anger, and when he did he wore a black suit and red tie as a remembrance.

 

“Some potential partners for SI are giving Pepper a hard time, they’re sexist and not taking her seriously. Don’t worry though,” Tony gave her a feral smile as he fixed his tie, “I’ll put the fear of Tony Stark in them.”

 

Natasha wasn’t known for being emotional or weak, but she supposed she could let herself be vulnerable around Tony.

 

———————————————————

“So we all like Tony?” Natasha clarified and the rest of the Avengers, aside from the person in question, nodded.

 

“So what now, no offense but I’m not fighting you guys for him.” Clint said and Steve hummed in agreement.

 

“In Asgard it is not uncommon for the people to share partners, we can merely share Man of Iron!” Thor boomed and Natasha was glad that Tony was out for a meeting, because he surely would’ve heard Thor if not.

 

“That’s...not a bad idea.” Steve admitted, and Thor nodded vigorously.

 

“So we share?”

 

“I’m sure Tony won’t mind anyway.” With that settled the Avengers planned on how to woo one Anthony Stark.

 

“Did my plan work Jarvis?” Tony asked, sitting next to Pepper with a smirk on his face.

 

“Yes, the Avengers are planning on how to get your interest.” Tony chuckled lowly and Pepper rolled her eyes fondly.

 

“I can’t believe you’ve spent all this time trying to get the Avengers to fall for you.”

 

Tony tsked at her words and shook his finger mockingly with a playful smile on his face, “Trying isn’t the word you’re looking for Pepper, more like ‘I can’t believe you  _successfully_ got the Avengers to fall for you.’ Although to be honest, Thor was the only one I had to research on and I only left him hints. I don’t know why the rest fell for me, anytime I tried to subtlety flirt with me it didn’t seem to affect them.” Tony admitted and Pepper smiled.

 

“Maybe they fell for your genuine actions instead of your Stark charisma.”

 

“You think so?” Tony looked at her with wide eyes, and Pepper’s heart hurt at the disbelief and hope in his eyes. That he didn’t believe that someone would fall for his genuine self instead of his mask but hoped for it all the same.

 

“Definitely, ask them when they ask you out and you’ll see I was right.” Tony gave her a small, but oh so genuine, smile and stood up.

 

“Will that be all Mr. Stark?”

 

“That’ll be all Ms. Potts.” Tony left with a bounce in his step, and Pepper was happy she gave her friend hope.

 

Now all she could do is leave it up to the Avengers to wash away Tony’s worry.

 

A few days after the Avengers decided to court Tony, they came up to Pepper to get an idea of what Tony would like to see, and she knew she had full faith in them.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Natasha's is a little different from all the action the boys got, but I wanted hers to be more emotional and genuine because I see a lot of stories paint her as this emotionless spy and I know she's tough but she's still human. I wanted to express that through her story, that she doesn't have to fall in love through war, and I hope I expressed that clear enough in the story.  
> Anyway!  
> I've been working on this for awhile and I finally completed it! This is a little fluff before the storm, and just a warning-I'm pro Tony (as you can tell) so my next one isn't going to be as easy going as this one. Most of you know what I'm talking about and if you don't, then you'll find out next time! Hope you enjoyed it, comments are appreciated, I'll see you next time!


End file.
